One of the major purposes of external preparations for the skin such as cosmetics consists in prevention of skin roughening and skin improvement. For this purpose, humectants, such as glycerin, polyethylene glycol, sorbitol, mucopolysaccharides, and hyaluronic acid, have been incorporated into skin care preparations. However, these substances are not sufficiently effective in prevention of surface roughening and improvement of the skin, and more effective substances have been demanded.
Tranexamic acid, on the other hand, is known effective on the skin in healing of wounds, prevention of skin roughening and skin improvement and has been added to medicines and cosmetics (see JP-B-47-1479, the term "JP-B" as used herein means an "examined published Japanese patent application"). However, preparations for external application containing a large amount of tranexamic acid are sticky and feel unpleasant when applied to the skin. Further, ginseng extract is known to be a Chinese medicine having blood flow accelerating action. It has recently been reported that combination of ginseng extract with .gamma.-amino-.beta.-hydroxybutyric acid provides fast-acting cosmetics for anti-aging (see JP-A-7-76513, the term "JP-A" as used herein means "an unexamined published Japanese patent application").